Posts Tagged ‘dialog’

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Change Cell Patterns in MS Excel

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

MS Excel will allow you to change the background patterns used in your cells.  There could be any number of reasons why you may want to do this, but luckily it is very easy to accomplish.

Follow the steps below to learn how:

version 2003:

  1. Select the cells whose patterns you would like to change.
  2. Select Cells from the Format menu to discplay the dialog box.
  3. Be certain the Patterns tab has been selected.

  1. Use the Pattern drop-down list to select one of the patterns available to you.
  2. Click on OK.

Versions 2007, 2010:

  1. Select the cells whose patterns you would like to change.
  2. Click on the Home tab of your Ribbon.
  3. In the Cells group, click the Format tool and then click Format Cells to display the dialog box.

  1. Be certain the Fill tab has been selected.
  2. Use the Pattern Color drop-down list to select the color of your choice for your background.
  3. Use the Pattern Style drop-down list to select the pattern of your choice.
  4. Click on OK.

Cool stuff:  Because any pattern you select appears in the background of your cell, that means that it appears behind any information in that cell. So, if you combine patterns and pattern colors along with other formatting options, you can be very creative with special effects!

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Posted in Excel 2003, Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Microsoft Office Excel | No Comments »

Control the Display of your Formula Bar in MS Excel

Friday, January 13th, 2012

For those of you who do not know, your Formula Bar in MS Excel is located at the top of your screen, bust underneath your Ribbon or the Formatting toolbar, depending upon which version of Excel you have a license for.

The Toolbar is comprised of two parts:

  • On the left-hand side is the Name Box;
  • On the right-hand side is the contents of your currently selected cell.

Now sometimes you may need more real estate to view one of your worksheets and sometimes you just don’t need to see the information provided in your Formula Bar and the good news is that you can turn it off if you do not need it!

Follow the steps below to learn how:

Versions 2007 – 2010:

  1. Click the Office button | Excel Options to display the Options dialog box.
  2. Click Advanced on the left-hand side.
  3. Scroll down until you see the Display options.
  4. Click on the Show Formula Bar check box.  If it is currently selected, then your Formula Bar is displayed. If you deselect it then your Formual Bar will not be displayed.
  5. Click on OK.

Earlier Versions:

  1. Click on Tools | Options to display the Options dialog box.
  2. Be certain the View tab has been selected.
  3. Click on the Formula Bar check box. If it is selected then your Formula Bar is selected. If you deselect it, your Formul Bar will not display.
  4. Click OK.

Note:   You can also view your Formula Bar option from the View tab of your Ribbon or from the View menu. This operates as a toggle: Click on it one time and the Formula Bar disappears – click on it again and it will reappear.

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Posted in Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Excel | No Comments »

Quickly Display the Tabs Dialog Box in MS Word

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

As anyone who subscribes to my newsletter or blog knows, I am the queen of saving time and keystrokes.  Why on earth would one want to do something the long way??

So in that regard, here is a handy little shortcut you can use to display your Tabs dialog box:

Simply double-click on your Ruler just below the markings that appear there.   Be certain that you double-click ONLY at the bottom of your Ruler.  If you click at the top the Page Setup dialog will appear instead of the Tabs dialog.

Please note that when you double-click on your Ruler, you may also find that you have accidentally created a tab stop. Don’t fret though. You can quickly and easily remove that inadvertent tab stop by dragging if off your Ruler. Of course, you can also do it in the Tabs Dialog box by clicking Clear All.

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Posted in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Word, MS Word 2000, MS Word 2002, MS Word 97, Word 2003, Word 2007, Word 2010 | 1 Comment »

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